Sunday, October 26, 2008

I went to bed last night thinking, "That was an odd fight." After reading some MMA sites today, I'm thinking, "These people are odd."

Somehow Anderson Silva's TKO victory over Patrick Cote has become a study in body language and intent. We have Steve Cofield of Yahoo, who thinks Silva was disrespectful when he bowed to Cote following the 1st Round. Whaaaaat?

Since when is a bow a sign of disrespect?

The only disrespect is from people like Josh Gross who write, "For the first time in his UFC career, Silva, 33, was pushed past the second round -- and that had little to do with his opponent." Yes, Cote had little to do with it. He wasn't the one getting hit with laser kicks and knees to the body. The same kicks and knees that obliterated Rich Franklin and so many others. Like it or not, Cote had more to do with Silva's performance last night than most want to admit.

For whatever reasons, Silva never felt comfortable in the cage. Cote deserves credit for taking Silva out of his usual mindset. He did some thing during those two rounds that confused Silva and made him gun shy. Don't take that away from him just because your expectations were not met.

When Rashad Evans spent the 1st Round doing nothing on way to a 2nd Round knockout of Chuck Liddell, he and his trainer Greg Jackson were declared geniuses. When Anderson Silva spends two rounds being cautious and letting the fight develop, he's a showboating jerk. For all we know, Silva might have been setting up the brutal knockout we all wanted to see. And for that, he's a jerk. I'm glad I'm not a fighter. You people are idiots.

Cote is getting treated like crap. No one is saying what he did was good. He planned to take the fight into the late rounds. Thats a good idea. Silva hasn't been to the third round since 2004 and that was his last real loss to Chonan. Cote has the plan right. To bad he didn't get a chance to finish it.

I agree with hundred dollar man. Cote's game plan of making it late into the fight was the right one because no one knows how silva will react in the fourth or fifth rounds. It's been years since he's been there and, as good of shape that he is in, he is several years older now. Lasting to the late rounds and hoping he got a little gassed was his best chance.